英國靈異文學大師 M. R. James M. R. James 研究

北台學報第 29 期 M. R. James: A Leading Writer ofEnglish Supernatural Literature 英國靈異文學大師 M. R. JAMES 研究宣中文 Hsuan Chung-wen 北台科學技術學院通識中心助理教授摘要假如我們把宇宙分為三界：天堂、人間、地府，那麼我把文學亦以三類論之：神話、人間文學、靈異文學。芒泰寇‧詹姆斯（Ｍontague Rhodes James 1862 - 1936 ）是一位十九世紀末葉到二十世紀初葉的英國著名靈異文學作家，他的盛名，他的影響一直延續到現在二十一世紀。西方世界認為他是這類文學的頂尖作家，許多作者及讀者公認他是現代靈異文學的創始者及奠基者。詹姆斯本人覺得他承繼了喬瑟夫‧拉凡紐（Joseph Sheridan LeFanu 1814 - 1873 ）的傳統文風，但他避免了拉凡紐的歐洲哥德式的氛圍，而代之以簡單的故事敘述來營造靈異文學的驚悚效果。拉凡紐是一位傑出的維多利亞時代小說家，維多利亞時代對英國文學來說，甚為重要，在那個時代見證了西方文學歷史中，那些偉大作家的升起與發展。追溯維多利亞時代小說的發展，其中有項重要的影響力，就是十八世紀後期的浪漫主義。再看遠一點，哥德式傳奇小說，為浪漫主義帶來最大的衝擊。關鍵詞：：：靈異文學：、哥德式傳奇、維多利亞文學、浪漫主義、英國文學。 key words: Super-natural literature, Gothic fiction, Victorian literature, British literature, M. R. James 272 M. R. James: A Leading Writer ofEnglish Supernatural Literature 英國靈異文學大師 M. R. JAMES 研究 Table of Contents Illustrations: Montague Rhodes James The Book Cover of Ghost Stories of an Antiquary The Book Cover of A Warning to the Curious The Famous School in Britain: Eton College Prince William Outside Eton College King's College Preface Chapter I. The Reasons for Conducting This Research Chapter II. Introduction Chapter III. Supernatural Novels by M. R. James Chapter IV. The Unique Stories of M. R. James Chapter V. The Weird Works of M. R. James Footnotes Bibliography 273 北台學報第 29 期 PREFACE If we divide the universe into three levels--heaven, earth and hell, then we also can divide the literature into three genres--mythology, human literature, and supernatural literature. Montague Rhodes James was a leading writer of the supernatural English literature. M. R. James' literary life begins in the mid-nineteenth century, and ends in the mid-twentieth century, but his popularity extends into the twenty-first century. The western world considers him as an outstanding writer in this field. Many writers and readers recognize him as the creator and foremost craftsman of the modern ghost story. "James writing in the tradition of Joseph Sheridan LeFanu, whom he thought stood 'in the first rank as a writer of ghost stories,' James avoided the atmospheric Gothicism in his predecessor's work and instead employed a simple narrative style designed to heighten the terrifying effect of his tales." (1) Joseph Sheridan LeFanu (1814-1873) was an eminent Victorian novelist and short story writer. The Victorian period is important to the English literature, as the period witnessed the rise and development of some of the greatest writer in the history of Western literature. In tracing the development of the Victorian novel, we know that a virile force in its complex character was the influence of the late eighteenth century romanticism. Looking further, the Gothic romance had played a main impulse to the romanticism. (2) LeFanu lived during the same time of Charles Dickens (1812-1870), and both had about the same longevity, LeFanu had lived for fifty-eight years, and Dickens lived fifty-seven years. They were the greatest writers in the Victorian period following the pioneer Gothic novelists. LeFanu was an Irish writer, although well known and widely admired in his own day, but his popularity suffered a strange decline after his death, quite different from the English writer Dickens. LeFanu wrote many superb ghost stories, which demonstrate beyond doubt that LeFanu's influence was considerable. In addition, LeFanu held the position as a transitional writer between the Gothic and the Victorian romance. He bridged the gap between the older type of Gothic tale and the modern short story using psychological terror. (3) He combined the best qualities of the Gothic romance with his own strange and powerfully subtle blend of gloomy effects, well-delineated characters, foreboding backgrounds, a sure and jagged power, which is the mark of truly gifted writer. (4) In LeFanu's and other Gothic writers works, terror is generated from both psychological and supernatural sources, however, in James' works, the agency of fear is entirely an objective phenomenon outside character psychology. 274 M. R. James: A Leading Writer ofEnglish Supernatural Literature 英國靈異文學大師 M. R. JAMES 研究 Chapter I The reasons for conducting this research are as follows: 1. Supernatural literature is an important part of literature, attracting huge numbers readers and the attention of all ages. This continuing appeal of supernatural literature shows the popular demand for it, so it must have some basis in human psychology. One great American master of horror literature, Howard Philip Lovecraft, wrote: "The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown. These facts few psychologists will dispute and their admitted truth must establish for all time the genuineness and dignity of the weirdly horrible tales in the literary form."(5) 2. This research will form a segment of my future study comparing Chinese and English supernatural literature. 3. I will conduct an in-depth research of Gothic novels, which emerged in mid-eighteenth century England. At that time, it was said: "while the great gods of neo-classicism were still feasting at their tables. This genre, however, was but one phase of the enormously complex Romantic Movement in life and literature. This reaction against the dicta of neo-classicism was inevitalbe, for the English have always been incurably romantic." (6) This romanticism expressed in Edith Birkhead's book "The Tale of Terror", he wrote: "From the earliest times to the present day, writers of fiction have realised the force of supernatural terror. In the Babylonica of Iamblichus, the lovers evade their pursuers by passing as spectres; the scene of the romance is laid in tombs, caverns, and robbers' dens, a setting remarkably like that of Gothic story." (7) 4. M. R. James is a prominent figure among the English supernatural literature writers, he and the other great writers, such as Poe, Hawthorne, Henry James, Dickens, Reade, Collins, Kipling, Stevenson, F. M. Crawford, and the Brontes were all distinguished by their masterly handling of the preternatural. 275 北台學報第 29 期 Chapter II Introduction Montague Rhodes James was born in 1862 in Goodnestone parsonage, Kent, England, and died in 1936. He was raised an Evangelical Christian. His father was rector of the Suffold village of Livermere, and James maintained his childhood faith with complete orthodoxy throughout his life. He developed a taste for old books from a precocious age and was fonder of reading dusty volumes in the library than playing with the other children. When he was six years old, he became ill with bronchitis, and, while recovering, wished to see a 17th century Dutch Bible which was owned by a friend of his father's, Bishop Tyle. The book was sent to him, and he reportedly sat up in his bed, examining it intently. (8) He studied at Eton College and then at King's College, Cambridge, where he became assistant in classical archaeology at the Fitzwilliam Museum. He was elected a Fellow of King's College after writing his dissertation "The Apocalypse of St. Peter." After that, he lectured in divinity, eventually becoming dean of the college in 1889. Here I would like to particular introduce Eton College, since it is such a unique school in the United Kingdom. Eton College was established in 1440 in Windsor, England, just minutes away from Buckingham Palace. It is the former school of many famous British men, and today is the school of Prince William and the future college of Prince Harry. Attendees of Eton College in the past have included King Henry VI, Sir Henry Wolton, Thomas Gray, Horace Walpole, Richard West, Thomas Ashton, Paul Watkins, Dr. Stephen Wolfram, The Duke of Wellington, The Earl of Chatham, Earl Spencer, and S. P. Sumtow are among the few. (9) When a young man enters Eton, he is usually no older than thirteen. Eton maintains a very rigid timeline for it students. The school timetable depends on which half of the year is taking place. The autumn term starts at 7:30 am for 1st school, or period, as it called in U.S. schools. Then at 8:15 am, the students stop for breakfast. At 9:20 am, there is a brief service in the Chapel. At 9:40 am, 2nd school begins. There is a 10:30 am break; then at 10:55 am, 3rd school commences; 4th school begins at 11:55 am. Lunch is served at 1 pm only at Eton, and it is called dinner. There is time for study after the meal then at 3:30 pm, 5th school begins. In keeping with English tradition, tea is served at 4:15 pm. At 5 pm, 6th school begins. A study period runs from 7:45 pm until 8:20, when supper is served. House prayers are given during the meal at 8:30. After eating, the students return to their rooms for a study period that lasts until 10 pm, "lights out". In winter, spring, and summer, the hours are slightly modified, i.e., teatime for the summer is at 4:45 pm or 5:30 pm, depending on whether or not it is a whole school day. Young men, at the age of fourteen or fifteen, go through a rather difficult transition, and for some boys, this is a very difficult time in their lives. At Eton, the house master aim is to coax a boy through this difficult phase. At this is the point, he hates to rules and regulations of boarding school life the most. Young boys at this time have the urge to get out into the world, find out about things, and sample them. These are of course, good, normal, healthy urges. It is at this time that these young men tend to perceive that their lives at Eton have a vestige of the past. They are usually quite bored with the four walls of the rooms and the view from their windows.

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